EDUCATION REFORM GROUP LOOKS TO BRING BACK "LOCAL CONTROL"
DEARBORN, Mich. — A report created by a committee of parents,
teachers and students in Dearborn presents the components of an
ideal school system based on local control and less government
regulation, according to the Dearborn Press and Guide.

The 50-member group created the Model District Project and
analyzed policy changes that would lead to more local investment
in education and minimize the amount of money going to feed
state and federal government bureaucracies. Dearborn Public
Schools is planning on sending the completed, 47-page document
to legislators and other school districts in hopes of spurring
interest in creative reforms. The district also plans to
incorporate as many of the ideas as possible into its strategic
plan for next year, the Press and Guide reported.

Key suggested changes include bidding for benefits and other
services and re-examining the school funding system. The group
believes the state and federal government should remain in
charge of levying and distributing tax money, but should do so
in a more "equitable" way, the Press and Guide reported. The
plan also finds problems with current accountability measures
like the No Child Left Behind act, Adequate Yearly Progress, and
the Michigan Merit Exam.

"There will always be a need for assessment and for government
to set general guidelines for objectives," Earnie Oz, a parent
and member of the Dearborn Parent Teacher Student Association,
told the Press and Guide. "But as for actual implementation of
programs, that should fall to local school districts. Government
needs to be active, not dictatorial. In many cases it doesn't
provide funding (for mandated programs) and creates a scenario
for failure."

STUDY: MICHIGAN STANDARDIZED TESTS TOO EASY
DETROIT — A comparative study of state standardized tests found
that Michigan's standards for mastery are lower than most of the
26 other states examined, according to The Detroit News.

The study, "The Proficiency Illusion," was conducted by the
Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and found that Michigan's
proficiency standards decreased between 2003 and 2005. The
findings also show that standards for eighth grader are,
comparatively, much higher than for third grader, The News
reported.

"Another big finding is that we see that these standards are not
well calibrated from grade to grade. Most states are setting the
bar dramatically higher in the eighth grade than they are in the
third grade," Michael J. Petrilli, vice president of national
programs and policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, told
The News.

The study argues that one of the flaws in the federal No Child
Left Behind act is its desire to let states determine their own
testing methods.

"State tests really are all over the map," Petrilli told The
News. "We see that some state tests are quite difficult to pass
and we see some state tests that are quite easy to pass."

Michigan Department of Education officials question the
methodology and argue that the findings contradict earlier
studies, according to The News.

"This report conflicts with the conclusions drawn from the
National Center for Educational Statistics State Proficiency
Standard Study released in June that placed Michigan in the
middle of other state averages," Department of Education
spokeswoman Jan Ellis said in a statement, according to The
News.

DISTRICTS TAKE OUT LOANS TO PAY BILLS
DETROIT — Nearly half of the state's school districts have a
combined $706 million in bond debt through the state and will be
paying $26 million in interest alone this year, according to The
Detroit News.

Uncertainty about the amount of state aid students will receive
has many districts borrowing money to pay for everything from
salaries to heat and other utilities. Garden City Public Schools
will pay $470,000 in interest on $13 million in loans, according
to The News. The Avondale Public Schools took out a loan for $5
million and will owe $184,000 this year, despite not having any
money in its fund balance, The News reported.

"It's not the best way to operate at all," Avondale
Superintendent George Heitsch told The News. "The interest you
have to pay directly takes away from cash that would be
available for class instruction, and that's an awful thing to
have to do. We're a symptom of the state's economic crises."

Business professionals find this financial model troubling.

"They're definitely not thinking like businesses," Mark Horvath,
an executive with an auto supplier and a parent of graduates
from the Plymouth-Canton district, told The News. "When your
revenue goes down, your spending also has to go down."

Plymouth-Canton opened a credit account for $6 million this
summer, according to The News.

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "The Six Habits of Fiscally
Responsible Public School Districts," Dec. 3, 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/4891

QUESTIONS RAISED ABOUT NEED TO HOLD STUDENTS BACK IN SCHOOL
SAGINAW, Mich. — A Saginaw Community Schools elementary student
was pushed into the fourth grade by his teacher last year after
failing in the vast majority of subjects. The incident has
raised concerns about the opposition to retention prevalent in
the educational community, according to The Saginaw News.

The student, whose name has not been released, was promoted to
fourth grade after receiving 17 D's and E's out of a total of 20
grades. The other three grades were C's. The boy's father, Henry
McClellon was astonished that his son was promoted and thinks
the school is sending messages that "it's okay to fail," The
News reported.

"I just couldn't believe it; he thought he was doing OK," the
father told The News. "I told him he doesn't deserve to go to
fourth grade. You have to earn that."

Despite the poor grades, and notes pointing out the boy's
struggle with reading comprehension, third-grade teacher Ruth
Anderson says she did the right thing in promoting him,
according to The News.

"He was conscientious ... tried very hard to please others,"
Anderson told The News. "He's just a sensitive young man."
The debate over when to hold a student back in school or to push
them forward with their peers is heated and conclusions are
generally unclear. Advocates of social promotion argue that
there is no reason to hold a student back unless attendance is
poor or the child has a learning disability, The News reported.

"What's the merit of repeating third grade?" asks Helene Lusa, a
professor at the Saginaw Valley State University College of
Education and a former elementary principal in the Livonia
Public Schools. "Most kids who don't have special education
needs catch up."

McClellon still finds the situation troublesome and doesn't
think the school has his son's best interest in mind, according
to The News.

"You have to blame the school system for wanting to push forward
a child," McClellon says. "I just want him to be a successful,
intelligent young man. He's failing, and he doesn't even know
it."

STUDENTS EVACUATED FROM SWARTZ CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
SWARTZ CREEK, Mich. — Students at the Syring Elementary School
in Swartz Creek were evacuated when a teacher reported a ticking
noise coming from a backpack, according to The Flint Journal.

The student who owned the backpack told the teacher the noise
was coming from a CD player. The school was evacuated at 9:45
a.m. Monday and classes resumed 15 minutes later after the
player was removed, The Journal reported.

"We're very pleased that the principal and staff responded so
quickly and effectively," Swartz Creek Superintendent Jeff Pratt
told The Journal.

MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (http://www.educationreport.org),
a quarterly newspaper
published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy
(http://www.mackinac.org),
a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan
research and educational institute.